Broodmare gem Opulence is the gift that keeps on giving for breeder Don Goodwin, with the mare producing another topliner in Australia over the weekend, but this time over jumps.
Opulence is the dam of ill-fated 11-time Group One winner and Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) heroine Verry Elleegant and Group Three performer Verry Flash, with the latter also having won on three occasions over hurdles.
Their younger full-brother Affluential has shown the same affinity for jumping in Australia, culminating with victory in the Grand National Hurdle (4200m) at Sandown on Sunday.
Bred by Goodwin, Affluential was offered through Grangewilliam Stud’s 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft where he was purchased by John Chalmers Bloodstock on behalf of well-known Australian owner Bob Peters for $140,000.
The son of Zed failed to flatter on the flat and it wasn’t until his 13th start, and first over hurdles, that he scored his maiden victory.
Jumping gave the gelding a new lease on life and he has gone onto win six of his next seven starts, including Sunday’s Grand National.
Goodwin watched the action from home back in New Zealand and said it was an incredibly proud moment to watch a horse he bred take out one of the biggest jumps races in Australia.
“I got a real thrill out of that,” he said. “He did a bit of Verry Elleegant in the way he raced – he was pushing and shoving with his head up and down, but when that horse (The Good Fight) came up alongside him near the finish he just put another bit in and won a by a length.”
Affluential led home a Kiwi trifecta, beating home the former Shaune Ritchie-trained Kiwi-bred The Good Fight, while the Mark Walker-trained Leaderboard ran third in the colours of New Zealand syndicator Fortuna.
While pleased to breed the winner, Goodwin was just as rapt for Peters.
“I got a thrill for Bob Peters as well because he has been so patient and it’s all the big fella needed,” he said.
While experiencing most of his success on the flat with the likes of Verry Elleegant and Verry Flash, Goodwin said he does have a soft spot for jumps racing.
“I am a big fan of jumps racing, I would have loved to have won the Great Northern over the Ellerslie hill,” he said.
“I have had a bit of success in jumps racing with Verry Flash, but also with a mare called Verry Royal. She is with Kevin Myers and her sixth race was over hurdles and she dug in and won by the smallest nose you have seen in your life, but she did win. I got a real thrill out of that.”
Opulence has been an outstanding producer for Goodwin but was sadly lost when foaling a Zed filly two years ago. That filly is now with leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller, and Goodwin said she is leaving quite the impression on Verry Elleegant’s former trainer.
“I have got a full-sister to Verry Elleegant with Chris Waller who has just turned two and they are very pleased with her, so we will see where she goes,” Goodwin said.
“She is the only (female) member of the family I have now as the mother died the day that filly was born. Horse breeding is a tough game.”
Verry Flash is the only other member of the family Goodwin is still racing himself, but he said retirement is looming for the now 10-year-old, who has posted 13 career victories, with 10 wins on the flat, including the Listed Rangitikei Gold Cup (1600m).
“He is a 10-year-old now and I will look to retire him, and he will go to his original jockey (Rowena Smyth). She has got a little farm a bit out of Auckland and she will keep him there. He is a neat horse.”